VIDEO: NASA’s Ten-Engine Electric Plane Prototype Takes Off
By NASA.gov // May 4, 2015
10-engine remotely piloted aircraft
ABOVE VIDEO: NASA Langley researchers designed and built a battery-powered, 10-engine remotely piloted aircraft. The Greased Lightning GL-10 prototype has a 10-foot wingspan and can take off like a helicopter and fly efficiently like an airplane. In this video, engineers successfully transition the plan from hover to wing-borne flight in tests at Fort A.P. Hill in Virginia. Forward to 1:10 to watch take-off. (NASA Langley Research Center Video)
A team at NASA’s Langley Research Center is developing a concept of a battery-powered plane that has 10 engines and can take off like a helicopter and fly efficiently like an aircraft.
The prototype, called Greased Lightning or GL-10, is currently in the design and testing phase.
The initial thought was to develop a 20-foot wingspan (6.1 meters) aircraft powered by hybrid diesel/electric engines, but the team started with smaller versions for testing, built by rapid prototyping.
During a recent spring day the engineers took the GL-10 to test its wings at a military base about two hours away from NASA Langley.
The remotely piloted plane has a 10-foot wingspan (3.05 meters), eight electric motors on the wings, two electric motors on the tail and weighs a maximum of 62 pounds (28.1 kilograms) at take off.
This photograph captures the GL-10 prototype taking off in hover mode like a helicopter.
